There seems no end in sight to the internal wrangling in Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the party’s governorship aspirant in Kogi, Dino Melaye, on Tuesday, revealed how Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, allegedly begged him to ensure Atiku Abubakar picked him as his running mate.
TRIBUNE ONLINE reports Wike after losing the party’s presidential primary to Atiku last year, had refused to work with the party’s candidate, saying the embattled chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, should step aside.
Wike, in collaboration with other four governors (Integrity Group), had insisted that they would not allow the candidate of the party and the PDP chairman to be northerners — a development some political analysts believe contributed to the party’s loss at the just concluded presidential poll.
Earlier, Wike had kicked against Dino’s aspiration to become Kogi PDP flag-bearer in November governorship election in the State.
But reacting to Wike’s outburst, Dino Melaye said the embattled Rivers governor was only fighting Atiku because the latter chose Gov Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate after allegedly lobbying for same position to no avail.
Melaye alleged that Wike called him about 19 times in two hours, appealing to him to convince Atiku to announce him as the vice presidential candidate.
“Wike has no iota of integrity. Wike was calling me when Atiku Abubakar was to announce his running mate. I have records and I’m going to print them out. I’m waiting for him.
“He called me 19 times in two hours, begging us to convince Atiku Abubakar to make him the vice presidential candidate.
“He was at the airport. I have the video. He spent hours in the airport waiting for me to call him that Atiku Abubakar has picked him as the running mate.
“He was at the airport here waiting, calling me. I have witnesses. He was begging, promising heaven and earth that Atiku should announce him. It was around 1 or so that I called him that, Oga, nobody go give you vice president. That’s when he left and flew back,” Dino Melaye disclosed in a recent interview with AIT, which was monitored by TRIBUNE ONLINE.
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